Metis - CLOSED

I attended Metis in the Spring of 2020, and as a high school math teacher for the previous 8 years, I entered the program with minimal coding and data science skills. In my 12 weeks there, Metis transformed me from an apprehensive career-changer, to a... Read More confident and competent data scientist. Post graduation the career services team supported my job search, and after 3 months I received two excellent job offers. I ultimately ended up at an extremely successful start-up where I am able to leverage my skills as a data scientist and educator. There are many positives to share from my experience, but I will highlight some of the major ones below: 1. Upon graduating you will have a robust data science portfolio: Throughout the bootcamp you will complete 5 projects (1 group, 4 individual). Other than a few basic requirements for which tools and algorithms to use, you are in complete control over your project. You come up with a problem, find data, complete an analysis and present your results. Some people may prefer more structure, but if you are uncomfortable with this fluidity then maybe reconsider trying to become a data scientist. The hands on work prepares you for the "real world." In addition to the projects, you'll write a minimum of two blog posts and maintain a Github page. Both are instrumental in your job search. 2. The instructors are excellent and truly care about their students: The instructors are experts in data science, programming and presenting results. They are always willing to help you scope and debug your projects, but they definitely do not hold your hand. They are also open about some of the personal struggles you may face as a data scientist, such as imposter syndrome and battling perfectionism, and will help you grapple these issues as well. 3. Your python programming skills will improve dramatically You will write a lot of python code throughout the bootcamp, which is essential because Python is overwhelming the most common language used by data scientists. By the time you graduate, as long as you put the work in, you will have the python programming skills necessary to perform in the workforce. 4. The career services team is excellent and supports you during and after the bootcamp They will tell you everything you need to do in order to make you a strong candidate, and they will also help you get there. This includes: updating your resume, encouraging you to write a blog, encouraging you to maintain a Github page, apply to 7-10 jobs per week (or whatever you feel comfortable with), recommending resources to study post-graduation, etc. Again, they can't force you to do all of these things, but if you follow their guidance you will put yourself in a much better position. They will also coach you through practice interviews (both during and after graduating) and will provide guidance throughout the application process. I have plenty more to say about Metis, so please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

I’ll start with the pros. I fell in love with Metis during the bootcamp. Perhaps the most life-changing learning experience that was brought about in such a short time. Yes, it’s intense and probably not for everyone. But it struck the right balance between... Read More classroom instruction, projects, independence, and guidance that helped me get out in one piece. The instructors and the TAs went above and beyond their call of duty and are generally incredibly knowledgeable. Some of the staff can definitely land an industry job that offers them a pile of money but my hunch is that they are staying at Metis because they simply love teaching. The diverse set of peers challenged me, expanded my thinking, and I can honestly see myself being friends with many of them in real life once this lockdown is over. NOW, ONTO THE CAREER SERVICES, WHICH NEED A SUBSTANTIAL REVAMP. Any decent career service should provide 1) resources and tools such as resume reviews, interview prep, etc., and 2) a network of companies that are willing to hire graduates, such as in career fairs. On #1, the resources are plentiful and the advisors offer amazing advice. However, on #2, the program fails miserably. The hiring partner listings are mostly unhelpful; of the few that pop up, the majority are for mid-level positions with 4-5 years of experience in data science. For any cohort that graduated in 2020, a rough estimate is that 50% of the graduates do not have jobs based on the many conversations I had, and the figures are likely higher for September and December grads. If true, this is a dismal figure for a bootcamp with such a high tuition cost… how is it different from a MOOC at 1/20th the price? The career advisors’ recourse is to double down on the resources they provide (see #1), point out the graduates who have successfully landed jobs, Metis alumni connections, etc. No, what we graduates need more of is #2. That is, career fairs and/or a sizeable network of employers and recruiters that are CURRENTLY willing to hire fresh graduates, not just a list of companies that previously hired Metis grads. Most Metis alumni are not hiring managers or recruiters and have little say in the hiring process, so just telling us to go network with alumni isn’t great. ADVICE TO CURRENT MANAGEMENT. We understand COVID has made career placement a challenge. But, the current system is not working for us. Too many 2020 graduates are still without a job. Host career fairs. Many universities have hosted successful virtual career fairs. Allocate substantially more resources to careers and do a major overhaul of the current career advising system. I know the career advising system worked during the in-person era, but Metis is now permanently a remote bootcamp and needs a new system. Without such changes, I cannot recommend Metis to any prospective students.

In February 2020, I was a full-time career musician who didn't even know what Python was, let alone how to create neural networks and algorithms using it. On year later, I received a full-time job offer as a Data Analyst (while in the interview process... Read More for a separate Data Scientist job) , and that simply would not have been possible without Metis. My case is not typical (I had a pre-existing relationship with the company, but had previously been rejected from the position) but I still credit Metis for giving me the qualifications and confidence to snag this role. Metis was recommended to me by an alum after my own self study in Python and data science; I could tell from quick research that it was intense, challenging, and well-fit for motivated, self-starting students. The admission process was straightforward, including a technical screening and personal interview. I was prepared for the technical screening after approximately four months of self-guided study in Python (using Coursera and Udemy), and a bit of linear algebra review. i would suggest doing some Python challenge problems before undertaking the admission exam, especially if you're not very comfortable solving basic to intermediate problems on the fly. I was accepted to the program and found out that Metis offers a $3,000 diversity scholarship that was a substantial factor in my decision to attend. Basically every protected minority is covered by this scholarship. It was clear on my first day of class that Metis walked the walk on valuing diversity. We were a decently ethnically diverse cohort (starting with about 30 students), coming from many backgrounds and skillsets. My background in the arts and the non-profit sector gave me confident presentation skills, but I was far less skilled than many of my classmates at programming. It became clear who was good at what, and my experience was a cohort of data scientists eager to help each other with our own individual expertises. Metis utilizes a project-based curriculum, with one group project and four individual projects. The "final project" is emphasized in the promotional materials and talked about a lot, but in my experience so far, all four individual projects have come up in interviews and are equally weighted. The units are (basically) Exploratory Data Analysis (group project), Linear Regression, Classification, NLP, and a final project that probably (but not necessarily) integrates a neural network or some other sort of deep learning. Although you learn a lot in there, the class felt like it was divided up into these five specific units. There was a West Coast and East Coast cohort, but we had our lectures and various speaker events together. There were separate instructors and TA's for both, but the lines were blurry and I felt comfortable chatting with both TA's and teacher sets. I found the teachers to be very qualified and mostly very adept - some instructors are more willing to hold your hand through the learning process, and some will basically present you the material and leave it up to you to facilitate your own understanding. All lectures are recorded and made available. The teachers are responsive to your needs; if someone asked for a lecturer to go a bit slower, they always did. Career Services post graduation are excellent if you take advantage of them. My Career Advisor, Jen, was such a knowledgeable and confident expert in the hiring process and was helpful whenever I had questions. You are provided resources on Salary Negotiation, Networking, and admission into the alumni Slack channel where jobs are frequently posted. Our program manager, Jesel, was also very personable and excellent at keeping us informed through every step of the process. I have no complains about my experience, but If you decide to go to Metis (or any bootcamp), your potential success is hinged on your own initiative. Instructors and alumni of the program told me that writing Medium articles and creating public-facing articles for your projects go a long way, and they were 100% correct. My articles came up in every interview I had, and I believe that my Classification project article was what locked in interest for the position I was ultimately offered! Rewatch lectures, find extra resources for things you don't understand, and utilize the brain power of your cohort members. Metis certainly provides all of the tools you need to succeed as a data scientist, but you have to take the initiative to take them. Good luck!

Metis has (or had) a really solid curriculum. I qualify this statement because the entire organization changed its focuses in December of 2020, breaking up the curriculum into a bunch of little bits. The instructors I had were supportive and knowledgeable,... Read More though all of them have now departed the company. In the time since graduating, Metis has lost its ACCET accreditation, which was a big selling point for many people in my cohort. To date, neither Metis nor Kaplan has formally addressed this to students or alums. Job support was dubious when I was in attendance, and has seemingly capsized completely in the face of COVID-19. Of the people from my immediate cohort, more than half are still unemployed almost a full year later. The corporate partners are nearly non-existent, and the ethos of the careers team is that they will continue to review your resume until you find a job for yourself. Given my own experiences, I don't know that I could recommend this program, purely from the opacity of the behind-the-scenes stuff and for the lack of placement for my colleagues. Given the duration of the job hunt, you may be better suited to find an accelerated masters program elsewhere that would at least give you some industrial clout.

I attended one of the final in-person data science bootcamps from Metis in the summer of 2019 and had a very fantastic experience overall. To give a bit of background, I come from a business background and was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to... Read More hang with some of the more quantitively rigorous aspects of the bootcamp. While the 12 weeks absolutely stretched and challenged me, if you have an interest in data science but may feel like I did and worried you wouldn't be able to hang with the content: rest assured...you'll be able to! There are tons of resources in the form of TAs, instructors, classmates, and more that will be there to help you through and ensure your success. The structure may be a bit different now but when I enrolled the 12 weeks consisted of 5 major projects ranging from a standard data analysis exploration into MTA data to classical ML algorithms all the way to generative deep learning frameworks. I learned so much in these 12 weeks that it is impossible to state it all here. But you can be sure that even if you come with some analytics experience your knowledge base will grow exponentially. Beyond the amazing instructors, balanced curriculum and wonderful peers, I also found the career support to be very strong both in and out of the bootcamp. Throughout the bootcamp there were a number of afternoons devoted to job search skills i.e. how to build an effective data science resume as well as mock technical interviews and after the bootcamp you are given access to a very robust slack community and ongoing support to help you land a role in the industry. After the bootcamp I was actually directly contacted by a company due to one of my blog posts from a project at Metis and ended up taking a job with them! All in all, I'd highly recommend Metis if you are interested in the the field of data science and couldn't speak higher of my experience there.

I did the Metis NYC data science bootcamp (live-online because of the pandemic) to transition into data science after working in finance for 4.5 years after college. I went into Metis with super high expectations because of its very high reviews, because... Read More it's accredited, and because my friend did Metis in 2018 and had a good experience, but maybe going in with super high expectations is unfair considering you can only learn so much in 12 weeks. Anyhow, Metis provided me a solid foundation in most of the key data science skills/concepts, and I was able to get a data analyst job I'm happy with within three months of graduation (your mileage may vary: I come from a brand-name school and have prior work experience at a well-known investment firm). But was I ever wowed by the bootcamp? Not really. I did like all my instructors and peers; I think the bootcamp itself, particularly the curriculum, needs a lot of polishing and restructuring, which is what I think Metis is doing for 2021 (they now have four different bootcamp programs instead of one), so hoping things only get better for Metis. Pros - Projects -- so important for your resume and interviews. Got great support from instructors to do them. - Really enjoyed my peers who were passionate and inspiring and some are now good friends. - Was able to get a job and make my career transition happen during the pandemic. - Think the NYC instructors are the strongest set of instructors across the Metis locations. - The overall Metis community (instructors, peers, alumni, employees career advisors) - Having access to the curriculum materials forever. Most of them are well-written, and I continually refer back to them. Cons - Did not cover A/B testing, which every data analyst/data scientist needs to know. Can't fathom why it's not emphasized in the curriculum. - Did not go into depth with SQL, maybe cause they just expect us to learn it on our own? But also something that you have to know really well to get past most interviews. - Sometimes class would end early (like right after lunch or even before lunch) so that we'd have more time to work on our projects, but I wish we'd use that time to learn the things we didn't learn like A/B testing. - None of the instructors/career advisors told us that business/product questions (e.g. how would you measure the success of a new feature on X company's mobile app? How would you investigate a 5% drop in engagement for Y feature?) are a key part of many data analyst/data scientist interviews. I was caught off-guard in my first data analyst interview when I was asked a product question by the interviewer and totally botched my response as a result and did not advance. - Curriculum materials are in a GitHub repo; it's difficult to find what you need sometimes because the organization of materials in the folders doesn't always make sense. - Sometimes we did all-cohort lecture series where the instructors from other Metis locations would lecture us. Some of the lectures were good; some were awful. Think my NYC instructors would have done a better job for most of those lectures.

The Metis Python course is extremely beneficial to anyone who would like to optimally leverage data in presenting their business results. The three-week course provided the ideal amount of time to learn the basics of Python. As a human resources executive,... Read More I have found that Python is an essential skill to master the intersection of human resources and technology. Stakeholders consistently depend on utilizing data to best illustrate how to attract and retain top talent, address gaps in areas of diversity, etc. Globally, as the workforce has been transitioning to work remotely, the ability to use Python has a greater significance today than ever before.

What makes a bootcamp great is the team who teaches and organizes it. Metis has an outstanding team of educators, who support and inspire you throughout an intense cycle of 5 projects. Career team is very professional, motivated to help, and is in possession... Read More of great deal of tools and connections to support you in career search. Wherever you are, this bootcamp pushes you to the next level. Curriculum is rigorous and challenging, but at the same time - a ton of fun. It is one of the most rewarding time and money investments I’ve made – absolutely worth it.

This bootcamp is an incredible mix between project-based learning and day-to-day lectures. The instructors were all incredibly interested in the students succeeding and understanding the material taught in the bootcamp. They always answered student questions... Read More thoroughly and thoughtfully, and spent the time to pay attention if students were with them, even in a virtual setting.
Towards the middle and end of the bootcamp, career services really kicked in and helped with resumes, cvs, and mock interviews. Of course it's up to each student to reach out to employers and get connected, career services dishes out helpful advice that is helping me in my job search.
I honestly highly recommend this bootcamp for those that want an intense 12 weeks of learning data science tools and concepts.

I attended the full-time immersive Data Science bootcamp at Metis. I know there is a lot of stigma around bootcamps, but I can assure you that by the end of the first week all your worries will disappear. The atmosphere was great and welcoming. The admissions... Read More process was definitely working because I have never been in a room with such driven and smart people in my life.

The course was intense, up-to-date and very relevant to what you'll experience in the job. You can see the amount of time and effort Metis has taken to properly curate the curriculum. Even though the curriculum itself was great, it wouldn't be anything if it weren't for the teachers and staff. They made sure to help you in every step of the journey. A big thanks to them.